{"id":2162,"date":"2007-08-28T14:55:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-28T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/dot-projects-growing-into-a-larger-scandal\/"},"modified":"2007-08-28T14:55:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-28T20:55:00","slug":"dot-projects-growing-into-a-larger-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/dot-projects-growing-into-a-larger-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"DOT projects growing into a larger scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Either a project is subject to the state\u2019s procurement code or it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The fact that the Richardson Administration wants to have it both ways on its Department of Transportation<\/a> headquarters redevelopment project in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When the state issued a request for proposals that offered a developer the right to most of the DOT\u2019s 25 acres in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> in exchange for the construction of a facility of at least 300,000 square feet on the property, it stated that the project \u201cis not governed by the New Mexico Procurement Code,\u201d the Albuquerque Journal<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When the Journal requested documents related to the project last spring, the state cited the procurement code in denying the request. When news broke last week that state officials were discussing a scaling-back of the DOT facility from 300,000 square feet to approximately 170,000 square feet, the state again cited the procurement code in refusing to discuss the issue.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And another new revelation about the project comes from an article published today<\/a> by the Journal: Gerald Peters, whose company is in negotiations with the state on the DOT project, held a fundraiser last week for Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> presidential campaign. He also gave $2,300 to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s campaign in June.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As reported by the Journal, \u201ca state law enacted last year prohibits a prospective contractor or a contractor representative from making a campaign contribution during the procurement process to a public official who has the influence to award a contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That law may not apply in this instance. Though the opinion wasn\u2019t about the procurement code, the attorney general said earlier this year that a separate state law had no jurisdiction over federal campaign fundraising.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But the reason for the law \u2013 avoiding the undue influence of campaign money on public policy \u2013 still holds true. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> appears to be skirting that truth, casting another shadow on a problematic project.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s sum up all the problems with the DOT project:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Two men who have been indicted in the Bernalillo County Metro Courthouse scandal<\/a> were tied to the early stages of the DOT project. In addition, the indictment in the courthouse case alleges that the two men and others planned to extend their scheme to pad and falsify contracts to a separate DOT project to redevelop another facility in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 The state won\u2019t say whether it officially and publicly scaled back the DOT headquarters project before the bidding period closed, giving all potential contractors the opportunity to bid based on the new project scope. If that did not happen, scaling back the headquarters\u2019 size may require that the project be rebid.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 The state has said both that the project is and isn\u2019t subject to the procurement code.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Peters is financially aiding the presidential campaign of the man who ultimately has control over whether his company gets the contract and a large parcel of pricey land near downtown Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also not forget that, if the feds approve Peters\u2019 proposal to build a casino in Anthony, the governor gets to decide whether the casino can be built. Peters has been one of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s biggest financial supporters over the years.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> has ordered a review of both DOT projects, and his spokesman told the Journal for today\u2019s article that the governor will retain outside legal counsel to review the \u201clegality and integrity\u201d of the projects and whether any \u201cundue influence or fraud\u201d played a role.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

How can someone paid by the governor objectively look at whether negotiations between people who work for the governor and a campaign contributor to the governor had integrity? How can that person objectively consider whether the campaign contributions resulted in undue influence?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Despite \u2013 or because of \u2013 Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s efforts, this situation is growing into a larger scandal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Either a project is subject to the state\u2019s procurement code or it isn\u2019t. The fact that the Richardson Administration wants to have it both ways on its Department of Transportation headquarters redevelopment project in Santa Fe is unacceptable. When the state issued a request for proposals that offered a developer the right to most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}